Number 867


Bob Powell has fun


Everybody have a nice Christmas? Hope yours was as nice as mine.

But, Christmas is over, and time to get back to the business of bringing you old comic books. Today a couple of 1947 Bob Powell stories from Harvey's Green Hornet #33. Powell didn't do the title character, but his work on two backup strips stands out. "Spirit Of '76" has an oddball premise for a costumed hero; a West Point cadet. I think those guys would have enough to do without parading in a gaudy red costume and mask. Powell makes it work with the funny hillbilly characters, "the Smith Brothers." Some of the panels in this strip remind me of Powell's former boss, Will Eisner.

He had fun with both the stories. I showed you the first issue of Powell's Man In Black in Pappy's #822, where the MIB was "The Man In Black called Fate." Here's an earlier version, when the Man In Black was also known as Mr. Twilight. He mixes it up with a gremlin and I especially like his Father Time, which seems appropriate for this last week of the year.

Here's a warning that on the last page of the Man In Black strip is a single panel comic with a stereotyped and racist black character. It was my decision to include it because it was not uncommon in its time, over 60 years ago, and I apologize if it offends anyone.

Number 866


Christmas crime comes once a year


Good grief! It's Christmas again already! Didn't we just have one of these about 365 days ago? Time doesn't just fly, it puts on the afterburners and goes supersonic.

Last year around this time I showed you a Boy Commandos story with a character named J. Smytherton Malone, who helped the Commandos on Mount Everest. You can read the story in Pappy's #648. In this Boy Commandos story, from Detective Comics #132, 1948, the Commandos revisit some of their past friends, including J. Smytherton on Everest, in order to leave him a Christmas gift. Awwwww. That's the ol' Christmas spirit, boys.

Unfortunately, the bad guy, rotund Rollo, believes it's better to receive than to give. He does plenty of taking, and what he does give is trouble.

The artwork is credited by the Grand Comics Database to Curt Swan and Steve Brodie.

I hope you and yours are having a great Christmas.

Number 865


Blackhawk and the Mona Lisa's smile


The thing that caught my eye about this otherwise routine middle story from Blackhawk #55, 1952, is the character emulating Da Vinci, and even his muse, Mona Lisa. You have to get to the next-to-last page of the story before you find out why this particular Mona Lisa is smiling.

No artist credits by the Grand Comics Database; the art is pretty good, but it's no Da Vinci.

I like Blackhawk comics, but they ask us to accept a lot. Like, how do these guys afford their lifestyle? They have their own island. They fly around in jets burning expensive jet fuel. Jets need a lot of maintenance, and who does that? That's not to mention the cost of the jets from the manufacturer, unless the Blackhawk crew build their own jets on the side. We just have to believe these guys fly around the world righting wrongs (and they are always on the right side, aren't they?) without benefit of any visible income. Maybe the part of the story the writer skips is after they save a country from the communists they present the president of that country a bill for services.

Number 864


Son of Sinbad


Joe Kubert's 1950 St. John comic, Son of Sinbad, was a one-issue wonder. In other words, I wonder if it was intended to be a series, but it didn't sell, or just a one-shot. No telling now, unless Joe tells us.

This story looks something like the Hollywood Technicolor™ version of a fantasy Arabia, with beautiful girls in bras, and guys with turbans and pointy shoes. Think back to Rock Hudson or Tony Curtis as the romantic leading man. (And did Curtis actually say, "Yonda stands the castle of my fatha, the caliph" in a movie?) Think Rhonda Fleming or Debra Paget as the romantic female lead. All good Arabs, Hollywood-style.

Since Christmas is in five days and I haven't given you any Christmas stories this year I've included a Fleer's Dubble Bubble ad with Pud and the gang trimming the Christmas tree with bubble gum. (Is there no end to the Pud Posse's inventiveness when it comes to uses for bubble gum?)

Number 863


Blue Beetle


Blue Beetle is a character who has had various incarnations since his introduction in 1939. The entry gives him the secret identity of rookie policeman, Dan Garret, who uses a super vitamin and wears a bulletproof costume. Why "Blue Beetle"? I've heard the name was a rip-off of The Green Hornet and that seems as good a reason as any. Victor Fox, the publisher of Big 3 Comics, Mystery Men, and any other books featuring B.B., wasn't known for encouraging originality.

The Golden Age Blue Beetle's costume, with hoodie and burglar mask, is reminiscent of The Phantom.

I read the Charlton/Ditko Blue Beetle stories in the mid-'60s, and that was my introduction to B.B., a different person and identity, taking over from the original character. I hadn't seen much of the Golden Age Blue Beetle, but here's a story from Fox's Big 3 Comics #4, by "Charles Nicholas" from 1941.

I'd also like to note that the Web is the worst-looking villain I've seen in my years of comic book reading. The danger in this guy is you'd laugh yourself to death if you saw him.